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Ukraine slams Scholz's call to Putin as allies question German move

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Ukraine blasted Olaf Scholz’s telephone diplomacy with Vladimir Putin, as many of Kyiv’s allies took a dim view of the German chancellor’s phone call with the Russian president.

Germany said the hourlong call on Friday was aimed at urging the Kremlin leader to enter talks to end his war on Ukraine. But the first direct communication ...Read more

NOAA/GOES-East/NOAA/GOES-East/TNS

Tropical Storm Sara forecast to fall apart over land, while remnant could make its way to Florida

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Tropical Storm Sara is forecast to slog its way into Central America this weekend, but lose organization before its remnants make their way into the Gulf of Mexico and get sucked back to the east toward Florida next week.

As of the National Hurricane Center’s 1 p.m. advisory, Sara was located about 30 miles south-southwest ...Read more

Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC agency moved annual event to ritzy club co-owned by Mayor Eric Adams' donors

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NEW YORK — A members-only social club in Manhattan co-owned by prominent political donors to Mayor Eric Adams was selected to host a city government event this month where the mayor delivered remarks about making New York the world’s “most business-friendly” city, the Daily News has learned.

The event, an annual procurement fair held by...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Firefighters faced low water pressure when battling California's Mountain fire. Here's what happened

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LOS ANGELES — In a matter of hours, the Mountain fire charged rapidly across the Santa Susana Mountains and into nearby foothill neighborhoods, forcing widespread evacuations and demanding intense firefights from crews showered in red-hot embers.

Even as hundreds of firefighters around the region immediately kicked into action, the wind-...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

This Lebanese American billionaire and Trump are in-laws. Will that help bring peace to Lebanon?

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KFARAKKA, Lebanon — In normal times, you'd rarely hear of Kfarakka, a hamlet nestled in the lush green mountains of north Lebanon whose primary claim to fame is that it's the country's top olive oil producer.

These are not normal times.

Hoping for an end to the devastating war with Israel, many Lebanese have turned to this village of some 3...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

When will the Orlando area's hurricane debris be picked up?

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ORLANDO, Fla. — With potential trouble brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, many neighborhoods across Central Florida still have stacks of sticks and other storm waste piled outside from Hurricane Milton.

Cities and counties say their cleanup crews and contractors have been working long hours and extra...Read more

Daniels County Leader/Daniels County Leader/TNS

Wisconsin police officer quits after allegedly re-enacting George Floyd's murder while subbing at high school

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A one-time substitute teacher who was banned from a Minnesota school district after being accused last month of re-enacting George Floyd’s murder in class has now lost his job as a police officer in western Wisconsin, the city’s mayor said Monday.

Prescott Mayor Robert Daugherty told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the City Council on ...Read more

Samuel Corum/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to head Homeland Security Committee

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WASHINGTON — Rand Paul has chosen to chair the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in the next Congress, asserting that the legislative body “must stand up once again for its constitutional role.”

A longtime critic of government overreach and a skeptic of certain national security measures, Paul’s chairmanship is ...Read more

Sean Rayford/Getty Images North America/TNS

Members of Congress seek federal probe of state hurricane recovery work in NC

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WASHINGTON — With state lawmakers set to question officials overseeing recovery efforts after hurricanes Florence and Matthew, North Carolina’s federal representatives are also calling for accountability.

At the beginning of November, eight Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation — all except for Rep. Patrick ...Read more

Florida schools removed more than 700 books after objections, report says. But many more pulled from shelves out of fear

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida school districts reported more than 700 books removed from their shelves last school year because of objections from local residents, according to a list released by the Florida Department of Education this week, but that total significantly understates the number of books banned across the state.

District educators ...Read more

Melissa Ball/New York Daily News/TNS

Powerful western storm expected to intensify across Midwest, could bring heavy snow to upstate NY

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A powerful storm system could bring heavy snow, high winds and cold temperatures to parts of upstate New York by the end of next week, weather officials said.

The storm, which is predicted to develop east of the Rocky Mountains early next week, is expected to move from the Central Plains northeastward to the Great Lakes, between Thursday and ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Do Americans support the death penalty? New poll finds a historic generational shift

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Nationwide support for the death penalty has fallen to its lowest level in decades due to shifting attitudes among younger generations, new polling reveals.

Today, 53% of American adults are in favor of the death penalty, which is the smallest share measured since the 1970s, according to a Gallup poll.

The results, pulled from Gallup’s crime...Read more

U.S. Department of Justice/TNS

Former Detroit Lions, Georgia Southern football player arrested on Jan. 6 charges

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A former Georgia Southern University and Detroit Lions linebacker was arrested Thursday in Savannah and charged with assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.

Leander Antwione Williams, 31, faces charges of assaulting police and civil disorder, both felonies, along with five misdemeanor charges relating to his alleged ...Read more

Potential settlement reached in first suit alleging phony arrests by corrupt ex-Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts

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CHICAGO — A settlement agreement has been reached in the first federal lawsuit alleging phony arrests by ex-Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team, a milestone that could have implications for the more than 150 other Watts-related cases.

Ben Baker sued Watts and the city in 2016, alleging Watts and his team pinned bogus cases on him �...Read more

Laken Riley case: 'She fought for her life, She fought for her dignity'

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ATHENS, Ga. — Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student killed on the University of Georgia campus in February, put up a “fierce” fight for her life when she was attacked while out for her usual morning jog, prosecutors said in opening arguments of a murder trial here Friday morning.

Riley scratched and clawed her killer, said the ...Read more

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's pick to lead Department of Defense was investigated in Monterey sexual assault allegation

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President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in the city of Monterey in 2017, according to a statement the city released Thursday in response to media inquiries.

The city's statement discloses that it had one police report connected to an...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Scientists fear what's next for public health if RFK Jr. is allowed to 'go wild'

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Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team.

Trump announced Thursday he’ll nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Health and Human Services ...Read more

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Discarded cigarette leads to man's arrest in 1981 cold case killing, Indiana cops say

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A cigarette tossed out during a traffic stop held DNA that helped identify a man accused of killing a 51-year-old Indiana man over 40 years ago, police said.

John Blaylock was found beaten to death in Griffith, Indiana, in 1981, but his killer was not known, according to police and the Chicago Tribune.

Detectives resumed the investigation in ...Read more

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's pick to lead Department of Defense was investigated for alleged sexual assault

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President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in the city of Monterey in 2017, according to a statement the city released Thursday in response to media inquiries.

The city's statement discloses that it had one police report connected to an...Read more

DANIEL KIM/dkim@sacbee.com/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Trump tried to end DACA, program helping undocumented immigrants, before. Will he try again?

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President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to overhaul the nation’s immigration policy has heightened concerns about an already in limbo program benefiting more than 150,000 undocumented Californians.

The program — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA — grants residence and work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the ...Read more